Related papers: Discontinuous order parameters in liquid crystal t…
Anisotropic fluids, such as nematic liquid crystals, can form non-spherical equilibrium shapes known as tactoids. Predicting the shape of these structures as a function of material parameters is challenging and paradigmatic of a broader…
We present in this paper a computational approach based on molecular dynamics simulations and graph theory to characterize the structure of liquid water considering not only the local structural arrangement within the first (or second)…
A nonlinear model due to Soddemann et al. [37] and Stewart [38] describing incompressible smectic-A liquid crystals under flow is studied. In comparison to previously considered models, this particular model takes into account possible…
We present a novel framework for the study of disclinations in two-dimensional active nematic liquid crystals, and topological defects in general. The order tensor formalism is used to calculate exact multi-particle solutions of the…
Microscopic understanding of liquid properties is essential for advancing a wide range of applications from energy applications such as nuclear reactors and batteries to biomedical applications including drug delivery and microfluidics.…
Amorphous solids lack long-range order. Therefore identifying structural defects -- akin to dislocations in crystalline solids -- that carry plastic flow in these systems remains a daunting challenge. By comparing many different structural…
The continuum mechanics of line defects representing singularities due to terminating discontinuities of the elastic displacement and its gradient field is developed. The development is intended for application to coupled phase…
Uniaxial nematic liquid crystals whose molecular orientation is subjected to a tangential anchoring on a curved surface offer a non trivial interplay between the geometry and the topology of the surface and the orientational degree of…
We explore liquid crystal order in a cell with a "dirty" substrate imposing a random surface pinning. Modeling such systems by a random-field xy-model with surface heterogeneity, we find that orientational order in the three-dimensional…
The bi-continuum model composed of two interpenetrating and dynamically coupled material continua is analysed as a simplified but relatively accurate way to describe some physical phenomena in crystalline solids. The essential novelty of…
Experimental and modeling/simulation studies of phase equilibrium and growth morphologies of novel polymer-dispersed liquid crystal (PDLC) mixtures of PS (polystyrene) and liquid crystals that exhibit a direct isotropic/smectic-A (lamellar)…
We propose a lattice statistical model to investigate the phase diagrams and the soft responses of nematic liquid-crystal elastomers. Using suitably scaled infinite-range interactions, we obtain exact self-consistent equations for the…
I put forward a continuum theory for active nematic gels, defined as fluids or suspensions of orientable rodlike objects endowed with active dynamics, that is based on symmetry arguments and compatibility with thermodynamics. The starting…
Topological defects (TDs) are crucial for understanding important physical properties of crystalline materials including mechanical failure, ion transport, and two-dimensional melting. This concept has not translated to disordered materials…
We experimentally investigate the nature of 2D phase transitions in a quasi-2D granular fluid. Using a surface decorated with periodically spaced dimples we observe interfacial tension between coexisting liquid and crystal phases.…
We discuss the reflection of light by a rheoscopic fluid (a suspension of microscopic rod-like crystals) in a steady two-dimensional flow. This is determined by an order parameter which is a non-oriented vector, obtained by averaging…
Topological defects play a prominent role in the physics of two-dimensional materials. When driven out of equilibrium in active nematics, disclinations can acquire spontaneous self-propulsion and drive self-sustained flows upon…
The complexity of condensed matter arises from emergent behaviors that cannot be understood by analyzing individual constituents in isolation. While traditional condensed-matter approaches-developed primarily for ideal crystalline…
We derive a multiphysics model that accounts for network elasticity with spontaneous strains, swelling and nematic interactions in liquid crystal gels (LCGs). We discuss the coupling among the various physical mechanisms, with particular…
Time crystals are many-body systems that spontaneously break time-translation symmetry, and thus exhibit long-range spatiotemporal order and robust periodic motion. Recent results have demonstrated how to build time-crystal phases in driven…